When a friend asks a favor
by Aberron
Summary: Ayeka has lost her memory, and has been exiled by Japan!  She was not the first, and now she must get help from those who were exiled before, so she can get her memories back and figure out who she was.  Ranma Tenchi xover, Tenchi/Ayeka
1. Chapter 1

In the year 1995, a large explosion destroyed most of the district of Tokyo known as Nerima. It was not the first, but the government had experienced enough. They decided it would be the last time that this would occur. The explosion was the result of martial artists, a group known by most civilized people as the Nerima Wrecking Crew. They had a track record that would make a professional bank robber look innocent.

The military was called in, and they quickly rounded up the martial artists and their families. An exile was declared, and they were deported from their country, their land and possessions taken from them. They were deported to China, their citizenship revoked, with very little chance that they would ever get it back. With tears in their eyes, the clans of martial artists left the place that they called home. Many looked back with a forlorn gaze as their boats took them away. One among them, a man with black hair in a pigtail, glared back at the shoreline.

"This is not my fault, I tell you! Let us go back home!"

The officer driving the boat shrugged with no concern for him. "Save it, punk. You all are never going to cause trouble in our country again!"

The young man clenched his fist. He resisted the strong urge to punch the officer, but right now if he did that, he would not be able to control himself enough to not maim or kill him. Even if he had that control, to hit the man would only prove his statement right. Instead of acting up, he sat down quietly, trying to ignore the strong emotions tearing into him.

A hand grasped his own, connected to someone he deeply cared for. A young woman, his age, with brown eyes and black hair, sat down right next to him. She leaned in close, a move that in the past he would flinch at. now, in his current state, he was too emotionally torn to flinch. "Don't let him mess with your head. Whatever happens now, we do it together. I promise that if we get the chance, we will return. If not, then I don't care, so long as I am with you." She whispered.

The rest of the ride on the boat, he just stared, too broken to think of an adequate response for his fiancé. Finally, he saw the mountains of his homeland disappear along the horizon, and he hung his head as the sky darkened. His fiancé remained by his side, supporting him in this dark hour. It was he who had been blamed. He was the one that people had pointed at as being the reason and cause for the explosion. He clenched his fist again, holding back the anger that was welling inside of him.

With a thump, the boat stopped at a dock in the nation of China. All of the martial artists were herded off of the boat by the military agents, who left as soon as they had come, not even caring about the people they had so roughly treated. Only one person was waiting for them, an old woman who seemed to be older than any other the young man had ever seen. She was short, and so she was standing on a wooden staff with a large bulb balancing herself on top of it. The young man came up to her and bowed, giving her his respect. At one time his country had deserved it, but no more.

"Elder Ku Lhon," he said, "I appreciate you being here. I think that Xian Pu and Mu Tsu are coming on a different boat."

"They have already come, and are on their way back to the village." The older woman replied, a sad look in her eyes. "We disagree on the actions of those who removed you from your homeland. Our tribe would like to offer you a place, a place you may call home." The young man stiffened. He had not always had this respect for the Chinese woman. He could see greed in her actions, a prideful look that he did not like.

"I would like to ask for one favor, Elder, but I will have you know that I still am not interested in becoming a member of your tribe." Her gaze fell, her intentions obvious. She had been trying to get him for years. "I only ask that you act as an elder of your tribe and please marry I and Akane. I realize now that I have been waiting too long on this. Now, my own country will not recognize it, but you will. This is my favor I ask."

Beside him, he felt Akane, his fiancé, tense. The elder seemed to be in thought for a long moment. "Are you sure, Ranma? We make this offer because you just lost your homeland. We do not mean to force you."

"Yes, I am sure, Elder Ku Lhon." He replied. "I know that you mean well, but from here our path is our own. I am afraid that if we join you or anyone else who we once associated with that this will all just repeat itself. I cannot do that to my family again. No, we must make our own path."

Ku Lhon closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We shall respect your decision. I hope that someday we hear from you again, honorable Ranma Saotome." She then took her staff and promptly fulfilled her end of the favor, marrying him to his wonderful fiancé. It was the first step towards starting his life over, a first step in many to finding his purpose again. He had lost his homeland, and he had lost everything that mattered to him. Now, he would start over.

Eight Years Later

The country of Nepal is well known for its nearness to the Himalayan mountain range, and more especially for what those mountains contain. In one such part of those mountains, two young people were traveling up through the valleys high above the lowlands they had come from. One was a young man with a long braid of brown hair, and a determined look on his face. At his side was a young woman with purple hair and red eyes, looking as if the world was against her. They were hiking up a worn and occasionally used trail, leading up to the higher mountain valleys. Their clothes were worn, evidence of a long journey.

As the pair came to the higher areas of the trail, they had to stop more and more often, trying to acclimate themselves with the altitude changes the were experiencing. Finally they came to a sign at a fork in the road, displaying a name with an arrow pointing at a thin trail into a nearby valley. 'Yoshima' the sign said.

"This is it." The young man said. "We're finally here. Maybe this will help you, Ayeka!"

She didn't seem so sure. "I hope so." She didn't say anything more, just focusing on the thin trail.

The young man smiled. "Come on, it isn't far now."

Inside the valley there was a small compound. It had been built on the ruins of a Buddhist shrine abandoned for decades now. It had been resettled by a group of displaced people, no more than forty in number. The main building in the compound was a large peak roofed building, with a well kept wooden floor. A middle aged man sat there, sanding a corner of the building that seemed to have been damaged recently. As he did so, he observed a number of children playing in the courtyard I front of him.

He sat, observing the children as they jumped after a single child holding a toy. "Masuki, give it back!" the ones in the back yelled. The girl in the front of the pack, holding whatever toy it may be, just stuck her tongue out and ran away faster. Typical. He snorted at the child's behavior. Unfortunately, it was one of his own children and he certainly could not condone this behavior.

The child, Masuki, jumped using his martial artistry techniques up to the level of the roof. The man smiled, seeing his child use this move. All of the smaller children that had not mastered the technique of jumping could not follow something like that. Rather than reprimanding his child, he simply shrugged. That move meant that Masuki was learning something. He observed as the children that could follow jumped as well, and the ones that could not went towards the far side of the building, moving towards where Masuki would have to come down.

He sighed happily. This was the life he had been dreaming of. As he thought of this he heard the laughter of the children coming back around the dojo. Again, it was Masuki in the lead, holding the same toy as before. As he settled in to observe the children play some more, he heard a bell chime in the distance.

Across the entire compound, everything came to a halt. Everyone stopped anything they were working on, women came out of their homes, and children came to a dead stop. All was silent, a fervent hope in the eyes of its citizens. Again, the bell clanged, and the gathered people began moving. Women and children moved towards the central-most building, while the middle-aged man stood and moved towards the main courtyard. They did indeed have visitors. All of the men gathered to the main courtyard, some bearing weapons and others cracking their necks and preparing themselves.

"I'll go in. You all go to the observation points." He told them. The men all nodded and jumped, their skills as martial artists displayed. In fact, the only people here were martial artists of the highest caliber. They were the Exiled. The middle aged man stepped towards the two medium sized fountains in the courtyard, one from a hot water spring and the other from a chill glacier runoff. He dipped his hand in the cold water fountain, feeling the change come over him. Not only was he one of the Exiled, he was cursed as well.

He walked, not at all uncomfortable with the change in height and weight. He was shorter, and in his cursed form he seemed much more harmless. He was cursed with a curse from the springs of jusenkyo, cursed to turn into a woman at the touch of cold water. He didn't mind it anymore. It was more of a blessing than a curse. Now, he used it for his benefit. He walked to the front gate, steeling himself for a possible showdown.

Had the government come to finish the job? Was Exile not enough? Perhaps, he thought, it might just be monks from the monastery to the east. But the monks always came only twice a year, at the start and end of winter. It was the middle of summer right now. It had to be someone else. Hopefully this someone else was friendly. If not, there were martial artists all over the place to stop an attack. They watched as he approached the gate, pulling on the slot of wood that would allow him to see through it.

He had to stand on his tiptoes to see through it, but that only made him look more harmless. Outside he saw two youths, and no one else. They looked tired and weary from the hike, but by their look he could tell that they were not normal people. One carried a certain grace that almost declared him dangerous, while the other seemed to be extremely uncertain. Still, if they both had made the hike, then they were either daring or desperate, and they looked far from desperate.

"Hello, Who is there?" He said, trying to seem like he hadn't just examined them.

"Our names are Tenchi and Ayeka." The man named Tenchi said. He had black hair, tied long in a pigtail in the back. He was of a strong build, his hands covered with many calluses. Carried over one shoulder was a priest's staff. What was a Shinto Priest doing here? His companion seemed to lean closer to see more of him.

Ayeka, on the other hand, demanded a bit more attention. She had purple hair and red eyes, which were definitely not normal. She was afraid, even though it seemed that she was strong. No one who was weak could make it this far into the mountains. Her hair was natural, it seemed. Was this a demon, sent by the government to kill them? Only a few people knew of this location, and these two certainly didn't sound like they were on that list.

Tenchi continued talking. "We are seeking the man known as the troublemaker of Nerima. We were told that we could find sanctuary here." The man was definitely from Japan. He spoke perfect Japanese, though his accent belonged to the island of Hyushu.

"What kind of man such as that would hide himself here?" He asked back through the slot. He would take no chances. Japan had treated him harshly enough. "Why do you come here looking for sanctuary?"

The girl, Ayeka, seemed sad to hear this. "Look, Tenchi, I told you that woman was wrong!" She slumped her shoulders slightly. "Why did we even listen to her?"

Tenchi kept the determined look in his eye. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a letter. "We are to give this to him, a letter from an old friend." He took interest in the letter held by the young man. Did the Exiled truly have any friends left in Japan? "I was told to deliver it to him personally. The man I am supposed to give it to goes by the name of Saotome."

The middle-aged man behind the door sighed. Perhaps there was some truth to this. Anyways, he didn't plan on letting the poor travelers starve out here. That would be barbaric, and the Exiled still kept their honor. They had left Japan with little else. "The man that you are looking for is to be found here, and he will want to see your letter." He opened the gate, seemingly not dangerous in his female form. "You may stay as long as you need to, travelers. We offer you any services that you might need." The words were customary to any traveler, something that made them more comfortable as they came into the compound.

"Thank You." Tenchi replied. "We have been traveling three months to get here. We were told that we could find help here."

"Help? What do you need help with?" He replied.

"We have been exiled." Tenchi said with sadness plain on his face. "However, our judge told us the way to get here. She gave us this letter and instructions on how to get here and what to say." He stopped for a second. "She told us that you could help us survive."

He led them back to the main courtyard, stopping at the edge of one of the fountains. Only one person could have had the ability to help these two. Only one person he knew could have known so much about this place. Perhaps these youths were actually telling the truth. However, doubts remained. Japan had not exiled anyone formally since they themselves had been exiled.

"Who was it that told you this?" He asked. Only the highest court in Japan was allowed to Exile someone. If their judge was who he thought it was, then it must be true that they themselves were exiled.

"It was another one of the Supreme Court Judges, the one that sentenced us. She told us that her name was Ni-chan." Tenchi said. _Ni-chan_, He thought. That could only be one person, and she was actually trusted. That meant that this person was actually Exiled, a legitimate person in need of assistance.

"Then you are welcome to stay here as long as you wish. You may have sanctuary here." Now it was time to truly be open with them, show them who he really was. He dipped his hand into the warm water spring, causing his curse to deactivate. He returned to his normal male form, surprising the young travelers. Then he smiled at them. "My name is Ranma Saotome. I am the man you are looking for."


	2. Chapter 2

Tenchi and Ayeka were introduced to everyone, and had the curse explained to them immediately. Tenchi had not reacted well, trying to banish the demon he thought was Ranma. Of course, everyone responds differently to the curse the first time they see it. Ayeka had simply screamed, bringing the attention of most of the compound. Ranma shrugged, finding this amusing. People's first reactions to his curse were always interesting to see.

"So, how did you get Exiled? I hope that you know that you are the first to get Exiled since we ourselves were, eight years ago." Ranma asked, phrasing the question to emphasize their new relationship with them.

Tenchi seemed to get a sad look on his face, the first time Ranma had seen the boy frown. Then he turned and looked at Ayeka. "I was Exiled for being her boyfriend and lawyer. No one else would help her, so I did."

"What did you do to get yourself Exiled, Ayeka?" Ranma asked.

She sighed, looking near ready to cry. "I…"tears did come, "I destroyed an entire city. No one can live there now." She sniffled. "I don't even remember myself doing it, but the government has pictures. They say that I destroyed Nagoya." The last was a whisper.

Tenchi held her shoulder and took over. "She has no memory of what she was before the explosion. All we know is that she is powerful enough to destroy an entire city. The government had video footage of Ayeka ruining the city, but we still are not sure how she did it. I don't care about that, though." Tenchi said the last bit to comfort the stricken Ayeka. "I care about her, and I want her to get her memory back. The person that told us about this place said that you might be able to help us."

Ranma nodded, looking around him. The faces of friends and family were all around, especially his family. They all were sizing up Tenchi and Ayeka, viewing them as possible threats or martial artistry opponents. To a martial artist, a powerful enemy was a threat. A powerful ally was an opponent you could train against, someone you could learn and develop your own skills against.

"So, are you both martial artists then?" He asked.

Tenchi nodded. "My grandfather is a priest, but he trained me in our family's art of kendo. I was to take over the shrine for him, but now…" He trailed off, leaving the rest of his words unsaid. Ranma and the others waited, giving him time to choose his next words. "Ayeka is also a martial artist," he continued, no longer wanting to mention himself, "but I don't recommend facing her. She doesn't remember most of her abilities, and the few that I have seen are too much for anyone to handle."

Ranma laughed. "I don't think that you could hurt me, Ayeka." His words interrupted her crying for a moment, as she turned towards him. Her eyes shone with a burning determination, making Ranma question that last statement. He could feel a prescense from Ayeka, a feeling of great strength. It flared, only lasting for a second before she buried her head against Tenchi's shoulder to cry out the rest of her tears.

Whatever it was, she had some sort of power. Those red eyes had held his attention. Perhaps he could try more of this later. Looking back at Akane, his wife, he nodded towards Ayeka. She understood. Ranma wanted Akane to watch Ayeka and make sure that she was safe to have in the compound. If she did in fact destroy Nagoya, they needed to make sure that she would have no reason to do the same here.

"Well, I am sure that you are hungry, let's have some dinner and we can talk about our little compound. We can also introduce you to everyone." Ranma introduced the young couple to the rest of the martial artists here, such as his own parents, Genma and Nodoka. There was also Ryoga Hibiki and his family, along with many others from Nerima. Lastly, he introduced Akane and his children, led by Masuki, to Tenchi and Ayeka.

Everyone seemed to get along fine, and after dinner Ranma led the young couple to different rooms in the main building. Once he made sure that everyone was asleep, he pulled out the letter that had been addressed to him, signed only by the name _ni-chan_. It was written in a familiar script. He made sure to open it by Akane.

'Dearest Brother and Sister,' the letter began.

'The politicians over here are worried about the girl that brought this to you. She leveled a city of two million people, who are mostly accounted for. Many evacuated before it got too bad, as they saw trouble immediately. She fought and killed a woman with silver hair, golden eyes, and was very powerful. Sound familiar? The girl you have met is dangerous, but was too traumatized to respond to our questions. I am sending her to you, where I hope her memory returns. She knows little more than her name. I hope that you can tell us more about her, as it seems that she might be more than human.

'Japan is not well. Tatewaki and I are tired of the other politicians trying to take too much power. The loss of Nagoya brings more problems than it does solutions to this situation. People are rioting on the streets, ending the chances of reforms that would give power back to the people. It is a troubling situation.

'I and Tatewaki are planning on taking a vacation this summer, and I think it will be to your little town of Yoshima. So, this is just a heads up to you, please don't go on any training trips. We miss you and love you, and hopefully will see you soon.

'The Kuno Clan

'Nabiki, Tatewaki, and Sakura'.

Ranma and Akane finished reading the letter at the same time. Nabiki Tendo was Akane's sister, but she had been spared from the exile by going into the government. She as married to Tatewaki Kuno, who had risen quickly in the ranks, and was now the Vice Prime Minister. It seemed that the political arena made his insanity no longer effect him, or at least become an advantage. Akane turned over to him, some worry in her eyes. "What will we do about our guests, Ranma? What if she is a murderous person when she gets her memories back?"

He sighed, deep in thought. "We wont do anything yet. We will just watch and wait. We promised them that they would find sanctuary here, and so I will keep that promise. If anything gets out of hand, I will deal with it myself. I stopped Saffron, didn't I?" He said confidently.

Akane just hugged him. "I know. I remember." That event had changed their relationship. It had lead to them being married, even though it took four tries to finally get it to happen. "Just don't let your overconfidence get the best of you."

"I wont." He told her. "We just have to make sure that Ayeka is not given any reason to destroy anything here. Then we can worry about Nabiki and Kuno coming."

"Sir, we have their installation in range and the fleet is prepared to engage. Orders?"

Admiral Yuri smiled from his command chair. For the last four months he had been working in this sector, weeding out the pirates that had infested it. They had made quite the mistake when they attacked a Juraian convoy, earning them the wrath of the empire. So, the ninth battle fleet of Jurai was sent. Four months had produced astounding results. The pirates had been pushed back to this one single point, their main base.

It was an asteroid, roughly four miles long, and was equipped with armored interiors and sealed hangars. For the average military, this would be too much to go through and would require a long extended blockade of the area. For Jurai's magnificent ninth battle fleet, it was taking much shorter. They had been here a month, pounding away at the planetoid's defenses, and now today was the day. Today was the day he would charge in, capturing the ringleaders of this operation, and earning the respect of every high lord of Jurai while he was at it.

"Begin Operations. Deploy the troop carriers and tell them to charge in at the first signs of an opening. Tell the main battlecruisers to prepare for a possible prison break, and to shoot any who try to run away. Leave this vector for my ship alone." Yuri stated.

"Sir, are you sure, do you want to dismiss your escorts?"

"Absolutely. The glory will be ours, and these pirates don't have the courage to attack us in the open. We will be fine." He observed the readouts on his displays. "How long until we have breached their defenses?"

"Four minutes, sir." His second-in-command, Captain Jenna, stated. Yuri settled in to wait while his fleet began to move into position. The pirates would have to act, now. Their few ships might come storming out to attack any one point of his perimeter, and he could not let them escape. Deploying the fleet so thinly was costly, but it would improve their coverage of escape vectors.

"Sir, we have incoming from Central. It is marked as urgent!" Hs communications officer declared.

"Patch it through, it must be important if we are being interrupted now."

The visage of the Grand Admiral of Jurai appeared on the ship's main viewport. Behind him, Jurai Central was in chaos. People were running in many directions, yelling for orders. It seemed like an attack, and yet there was no war going on or anything else that Yuri knew of.

"Admiral Yuri," The Grand Admiral stated, "You are to end your current deployment and redeploy immediately. You will leave in ten minutes."

Yuri was outraged. Someone must be trying to take away his victory. But who? Who would dare interrupt him now?

"Sir, Why are we being recalled? We are minutes away from completing our task!"

The Grand Admiral gave him a stern look. "You will redeploy to Earth, effective immediately. You are the closest and most heavily armed force that Jurai has. This situation has become far more threatening than your petty pirates in a rural sector."

Yuri lost his anger. "What is going on?" To Jenna, he motioned for her to recall the troop carriers. That would take the longest to get ready for redeployment. "Does earth pose a threat to Jurai?"

"That remains to be seen." He stated. "Princess Ayeka's ship was just lost at Earth. Ryuuh-oh was one of our most powerful battlecruisers. Unfortunately, Earth does not have the capability of space travel. This means that Princess Ayeka is on a world separated from the empire, unable to return home, and whatever destroyed her ship might still be out there. You will redeploy immediately, and save her Royal Highness before she can come to any further harm. Am I clear?"

Yuri grimly looked at him. "Yes. Yes, Sir. We will deploy Now."

"Good. You have the right to do whatever is necessary to bring back the Princess. Do not fail us." The screen changed, returning to his fleet's deployment. Yuri had a hard look on his face now, resolute. These pirates did not matter. They paled in comparison. The Royal Family, the heir to the throne, she was in danger and he and his fleet were what she was going to depend on to get home to Jurai. Turning, he faced his crew as a whole.

"Recall the troop carriers and deploy the heavy missle boats. Eradicate this sorry rock from existence in the next four minutes. Have the entire fleet begin firing their volleys. I do not want to have to come back to this. Then, order the fleet to begin travelling to the Sol system. For the Royal Family of Jurai, we will get there as fast as we can." He looked at Jenna. "How long until the fleet will arrive at Earth?" The pirates were forgotten. His attempts at gaining favor were put aside. For now, nothing else but the glory of the empire was in his mind.

"Three months for the main body, a few days longer for the invasion forces and troop carriers. This is if we push our ships to the limit. We might lose a few if we do so, though."

"Do it." He told her. "We cannot afford to wait a moment longer!"


	3. Chapter 3

The helicopter's rotors tore through the air, leaving the airspace of Japan. It was a small type, meant for only six passengers. It currently only had three. In the pilot seat was a middle-aged man with a nice set of robes, seemingly odd for a helicopter pilot. At his belt was a wooden bokken, also standing out against the façade around him. In the backseat was a woman with slim brown hair and winter clothes, with a child next to her.

"Are we there yet, Mommy?"

"No, Sakura, we won't be there for another ten hours." The woman announced, wondering how motherhood could be more demanding than politics. Still, with this trip they would be able to get away from all that, escape from the dark pit that was the Diet. The child fussed, but was soon placated by a video game player. Nabiki Kuno was not so easily placated, and would only feel satisfied once she saw her extended family once again.

It had been at least three years since she had last taken the chance to visit her sister and brother in law, up in their mountain retreat. Last time it had been only for a few days. This time, she had managed to arrange for both her and Tatewaki's sabbaticals to occur at the same time.

Smiling at her husband, she wondered how things might have been if he had never entered politics. Tatewaki lost his father in an accident somewhere in the Hawaiian islands, making him the clan leader and next in line to be chosen for the local governing offices. His mental paranoia was actually useful, even an advantage, in the political arena. For some reason his brain understood the language of politics much better than the talk of the streets, and with his paranoia he could outthink many of his rivals. So, after only eight years he had become the vice prime minister, of course no thanks to his wife, Nabiki.

She herself had gone into law school, graduated in record time, and had been placed on the Japanese Supreme Court. One of the youngest people ever to be chosen for the position, she thought it was more of an effort to get her out of the court room and into an office where they could keep a better eye on her. She was subtle, dangerous, and in her current office, rather controlled. Even though the Diet were trying to control her, she still maneuvered tatewaki into his current office, which managed to get her some amenities. This little vacation was one such amenity.

Sakura eventually fell asleep, the thrum of the helicopter sending her to a somewhat restful sleep. They flew for six hours, refueling in southwestern china before heading off again to the last leg of the trip. When they finally reached the mountains and valleys of Nepal, Nabiki let out a most unladylike squeal as she saw the home of her family. She smiled, very openly, not hiding anything of her emotions. It was a rare opportunity to be emotional in front of other people, and not the 'Ice Queen' of the courtroom. She relished these moments, and this would be one that she had high hopes for.

The helicopter had hardly landed when she pulled Sakura from her seat, practically sprinting for the front gate of the old Buddhist complex. The gate started opening just as she reached it, pulled apart by a small woman with long blackish brown hair. Nabiki giggled, screamed, and ran for the woman.

"Akane! Akane!" both sisters gave a hug, smiles on their faces. Long ago they had settled their differences, and they had always gotten along after that. "It's so nice to see you!"

Akane smiled back. "We are happy to see you too, sis. We have been waiting to see you and Sakura for a while now." She ruffled the child's hair. "Your cousins are jumping across the roofs right now to come and see you, Sakura." Sure enough, there were a pack of young martial artists jumping across the low rooftops of the compound towards the gate, all smiling. Sakura wanted to get down, out of Nabiki's arms.

Letting the child go, Nabiki smiled again. The sounds of her husband's light footsteps came, gently coming right up behind her. Tatewaki usually walked heavily, bound up by the political world. He felt it was his duty to protect the people, and so he usually walked with a heavy heart. The practiced stoic expression on his face concealed this, but his light footsteps betrayed his delight.

"Honored Akane, it is wonderful to see you, sister dearest." He cocked his head, not changing from his calm tone. "Is your vile sorcerer around?"

Akane rolled her eyes. "He is helping patch one of the roofs. If you would help him out, and then have dinner with us, then ill let you both fight. But I don't want you to fight until after you have unpacked, alright?" She said seriously.

Tatewaki grinned and bowed to her. "I accept your outrageous demands, honored sister." He let the mask fall, and a goofy grin appeared on his face. "Saotome! Defiler of women! I come to help thee!" He went off, at a brisk pace, smiling all the way. Akane and Nabiki laughed, smiling as the family reunion got started.

Tenchi moved through his familiar sword forms, just trying to find something to focus on. He had made no progress on helping Ayeka these past months. She had remembered very little, if anything, of her past. She still knew nothing, and the strange powers she had supposedly exhibited had not shown themselves again. Moving again through his basic practice forms, he crossed the beginning section of the kata again. Sighing, he stopped. He could not regain his focus.

Giving up for now, he walked and leaned against the edge of the dojo. He had left everything, everything he ever had, to help Ayeka. So far he felt worthless in that regard, having accomplished nothing. He had tried everything he could think of, even trying to have her train in the sword arts. He was not the most original of people, but here in the home of the Exiled, there were many people familiar with memory loss. Even with the help of Ranma and the others, Ayeka saw no improvement.

Looking up, he saw two people enter the dojo, and he recognized both of them. Ayeka came in with Ranma's mother, Nodoka. She smiled at him, her red eyes glittering. She came and sat beside him, Nodoka following. They said nothing, Tenchi feeling too ashamed to speak, and her just smiling. Many of their conversations went like this, simply because Ayeka did not have much to speak about.

Soon, they heard the far doors of the dojo opening. Two people came in the main doors, followed by another person. The first two were Akane, and then someone that Tenchi recognized from Japan. He immediately placed himself between her and Ayeka, protecting her.

"You!" he yelled, pointing his training sword at her. "You stay away from Ayeka! You've done enough harm!" Standing before him was the supreme court judge who exiled them. She had her hands on her hips, seemingly unamused at his display.

"Yes, and I could have demanded a lot worse. For example, her death, or perhaps being imprisoned for life," She let it hang for a few moments. "I think you both got off easy for the destruction of Nagoya, not to mention the billions in lost income from all of the families that worked there. In fact, I am here to help her, in addition to having my vacation." She gave him a dead look. "If you think I am here to cause more harm, be my guest. You'll regret it."

Tenchi withdrew the bokken. She obviously did not think of him as a threat. "If you really are here to help her, then prove it!"

She shrugged. "I'm bringing back some of her things we found at the site of whatever she arrived in Nagoya in. I slipped some of them into my travel bags under the guise that I a studying it. I simply have no intention of bringing it back. Here." She said, tossing a small bag to him. "That is something of hers I want to give back."

Tenchi caught the bag, checking inside of it for anything dangerous. All he found was a small wooden piece, a circlet of sorts. It did not seem too dangerous. He shrugged, handing it to Ayeka. She took it gingerly, almost knowing exactly how it was supposed to fit onto her head. Tenchi smiled, letting her know how he thought of the piece. It seemed to fit, to be a part of her.

Then she groaned, holding her head in pain. Nodoka and Tenchi were both shocked, seeing this reaction. Ayeka never got headaches. Rushing to her, her cradled her in his arms.

"Akane experienced much the same thing when she started recovering from some memory loss." Nodoka said softly. "This is a good sign, young Tenchi. She will be fine."

Tenchi sighed in content. She was going to be alright, even maybe remembering who she was. A new voice rose behind him. "Knave, thine woman may be fine, but I do not tolerate it when someone threatens my wife." Turning, he saw the man who had come in behind Akane and the female judge. He was taller, with ruffled hair as if from a helmet. Unfortunately for Tenchi, he was holding a bokken in a very practiced fashion. It was aimed directly at his face. "I, the Blue Thunder of the Diet, will make you suffer for thine offense against my wife."

Tenchi had no idea who this was, but he was dangerous. All he had done was in protection of Ayeka. How had he offended her? Fortunately, she answered his question.

"My name is Nabiki Kuno." The judge said, "and this is Tatewaki, Japan's Vice Prime Minister and the nations top kendoist. He does not take any offence lightly." Nabiki then turned to her frowning husband. "Tate, he looks like a capable martial artist. Give him your best, but don't kill him."

Kill? He could kill with a bokken? Tenchi was not sure he could do the same. Perhaps if he hit someone enough times in a sensitive spot he could do it, but it would take some effort. Tenchi stepped back away from Ayeka, trying to place her out of the line of fire. Then, finally, the introduction kicked in. "Prime Minister?" He stuttered, "You're a kendoist?"

The man leveled his blade. One foot stepped lightly forward, leaving hardly any indentation in the dirt, a sure sign of trouble, and he gave Tenchi a cold glare. "You are about to be reunited with your primordial dreams, knave! I was a kendoist before I was a politician, and you are about to feel the fullness of my wrath!"

With that, the man, Kuno, charged. The first blow felt like a tank had hit him, driving Tenchi back a few feet from the strike. Blocking these was not a good idea, he decided, as he attempted to dodge. This man was much more aggressive than his grandfather, that was for sure. Each strike was so quick and strong that the air pressure around the strikes was strong enough to tear his robes. His dodging improved greatly at that moment, inspired by fear.

Running back through the rear entrance to the dojo, Tenchi ran to an area where he might have more of an advantage. His grandfather loved to train him on uneven ground, with few opportunities for open striking. Their family style was related to facing a target with the full force of your blade in front, but against this Kuno Tenchi was heavily outmatched. He could strike harder and faster than Tenchi could. He needed to get to higher ground, where he could fight down at Kuno. That could work. Running to the opposite side of the courtyard, he jumped on the short blocks on the ground leading to the wall, and then finally with another jump to the wall he was able to gain access to the roof.

Twisting around, he brought his blade towards the wall to stop Kuno. He now owned the only way up. Breathing heavily, he didn't see him. With a deep sense of discomfort he felt the blade of a bokken poking his shoulder from behind. He flinched. Another martial artist? This guy was as bad as Ranma and the others, Tenchi realized. "Knave, you are not skilled enough to defeat me!"

Tenchi agreed. Still, fear of losing to someone other than his grandfather drove him forward. Whipping around, he tried to swing his bokken hard enough to hurt Kuno. His strike came in like a snake, quick and without deviation. Kuno swept it aside like it was nothing, the exchange knocking Tenchi off his feet. His body weight had been fully invested in the swing, and Kuno took advantage of that. With one chop he sent Tenchi off the rooftop, and straight into the ground. With the wind knocked out of him, he felt Kuno follow him to the ground with the sound of two gentle footsteps. The feeling of a bokken at his neck came, and Tenchi felt his own blade kicked out of his hand.

"You have some skill, warrior. Perhaps if you improve we shall meet again in the fields of battle. Until then, I shall tolerate no further offense to my wife. You will honor this or suffer painfully." The bokken was withdrawn and the man walked away, calmly walking as if he had not just been in a battle. Tenchi then remembered that Ayeka was in pain. He had to get back to her. Groaning in pain, he stumbled towards the dojo.


	4. Chapter 4

The field of space swirled brightly for only a few more moments as the ships started slowing down and returning to less than stellar speeds. There was a slight tightening of the gravitational systems as they readjusted for the new gravity well they were in, and finally they arrived. Admiral Yuri paced the deck, glaring at the view panels. As the ships came to a stop he saw the starfield stabilize, and a planet was actually visible. It was a large gas giant, with an orange hue to it. There was a small ring around it and a large red spot on the surface. As the ships came to a stop, technicians began running around in a hurry, the bridge a nexus of motion. On the command section the only one moving was Yuri. He had been pacing all day. He was looking forward to killing whoever was responsible for even daring to think of harming the royal family.

His superiors had given him the right to go beyond Galactic Police regulations in order to get Ayeka back. This system was not a civilized area, not even with basic faster than light travel. Ayeka only had one way back home, and he was the one in charge of it. Whatever these primitive creatures had done to Ayeka, if it was them, he would answer in full. Galactic Police officers in the system had already been called off into another sector, chasing some fake lead. He had bought enough time to act without involvement from the local officers.

"Sir, we have arrived. Some of the ships are still three days out, and we lost one ship before we got through here. They are performing repairs to their faster-than-light drives and will meet up with us in four days. All other fleet resources have arrived." His second in command reported. Her long blond hair twitched in anticipation. She was as patriotic as he himself was.

"What ship was left behind? Did it have any necessary elements?" He asked.

"The Seshuin. It carried missle pods and anti ship weaponry. No necessary elements." She said, reading her screen. Then she scowled. "Ground deplyment teams are still on the way, all of those necessary elements are not on hand. All we have are a couple of black ops squads left from the piracy deployment."

He scowled with her. "They will have to do. Start moving the fleet to the third planet and begin jamming their long distance arrays. We cannot afford to be found by them yet. Are there any other groups or signatures in the area?"

"No, Admiral. We are alone out here."

"Good. Launch black ops and find the princess. If she has been harmed in any way, we will have to act immediately. Tell all crews to prepare for the possibility of ground invasion and deployment. We will not have the ground invasion forces for at least three days, and we may be forced to act." He did not relish the idea of sending his regular crew members into such a dangerous situation without training or prep. Then again, the possibility of losing a member of the royal family was twice as dangerous. For everyone in this fleet, this mission would make or break their career.

"Sir, elements of the fleet are moving as ordered. Earth's long range sensor, if they have any, will be disabled within the hour." As if in response, he felt the ship groan as it was forced to keep going. Their fleet was not meant for this kind of extended punishment. The more he kept up this speed, the harder it would be for them to try and escape. The strain upon the fleet now would only hamper them more later when they would have to make the trip home. Hopefully the cost of refitting the fleet will be looked over when he returned Ayeka.

The poor girl. It had taken three months for them to get here. She had probably been through the worst torture these barbaric humans could imagine. Yuri swore that he would end her pain.

Ayeka held her head in pain. As soon as she had placed the headpiece on her head, her mind was assaulted with images. Her mind instinctively told her this was some sort of key, but how she knew that she did not know. She groaned, leaning back into the wood of the dojo, as her mind burned with pain of memories.

She saw a flash of something large, just looming over her in the sky. It looked strange, almost as if it were made of wood. This image passed by, and others flashed by, of trees larger than cities, of cities in the trees, and of more of those large somethings. She grasped the sides of her head, trying to understand as more images poured in. One in particular stayed with her, an image of some sort of craft, with a large red jewel at the core and spines jutting out at different angles around it forming the rest of its body. This image did not flash by, burning itself into her mind and staying there. Finally, the pain dulled and she collapsed against someone.

Turning, she saw Nodoka there, the older woman smiling for some reason. Ayeka was confused by this.

"So, little one, did that help? Did you recover some of your memories?"

Ayeka smiled with her. "A few, but it hurt." She smiled wider. They were on the right track to rediscovering who she was. It also proved that this Nabiki was there to help. "I think we are moving in the right direction." She turned to Nabiki. "What else did you find in Nagoya?" She was a little anxious now, pieces of her past finally coming back.

Then she realized that something was wrong. Tenchi. She looked around, remembering someone shouting at him. Current memories rushed in, of the conversation between the two men, and what Nabiki said at the end of it. Anxiety turned to fear, a fear of losing the one person left who cared about her. She stood, finding herself more than a little shaky. Tenchi had gone running off in the direction of the northern end of the complex, and she tried to run after him.

Behind her, she heard Ranma and a few others enter the dojo, probably hearing about Nabiki and her husband. Running unsteadily towards the door that Tenchi went through, she saw someone coming through the other side. It was Nabiki's husband, and from the low light in the archway it almost looked like there was blood on his wooden blade. Her heart froze, and another memory assualted her mind.

The memory carried more than just images this time, though these were more graphic. In the image, there was blood on her hands. From what she did not know, but that alone stood out to her. In the memory, she could feel the emotions coursing through her. It filled her, rage and heat consuming her. Another memory came, of her feeling within herself and grasping something, some power, and gathering it all into her hand, as if to unleash it. In the memory, she could feel the emotion of the moment, and she could see her target. A flash of silver hair was all that she needed in the memory, and she brought up her hand ever so slightly, charging it with enough power to kill this being, this person that embodied all of her hatred.

She was pulled out of this memory by the feeling of someone grabbing her arm. Blinking, she felt the real world come back into focus, and could see her arm raised, pointed at the man who had attacked Tenchi. Her hand was glowing, ready to remove him from existence. Rage left her immediately, and she let go of the gathered power, and she fell back into someone's grasp. There was a hand on her wrist, the one that had been charged, and looking past it she saw the man holding her. It was Tenchi, and he had a very worried look on his face.

"Ayeka, what are you doing?" He said. "Are you alright?" The second question he asked when he saw her confusion. She felt her hands shaking, the experience overwhelming her. Looking around, she saw all of the martial artists in the compound staring at her. Many were worried or fearful, as if they had sensed her power rising as she did. Only one was close to her, and that was Ranma. He had a look of intense concentration on his face, simply staring at her.

"Tenchi…" she said, feeling embarrassed in front of so many people, "I need to get away from him. I need…" She didn't know what she needed, but what she did know was that she would not find it here. Leaning against him, she let him lead her away from the dojo. At the outer door, she felt someone else grab onto her. It was Ranma, and he looked very concerned.

"Ayeka, can you do that again?" He moved more within her vision. "Can you do that bit with your power again?"

Ayeka shivered. "No," she squeaked. "I don't want to!"

Ranma looked at her and seemed to look right past the fear. "You're just afraid of hurting someone Ayeka. I told you when I first came here that I am not afraid of that. What you just did was manifest a very powerful ki signature, but when you did that I got a glimpse of who you really are." She gave the martial artist a confused look. He sighed and continued speaking. "When someone manifests their energy, it is like they are pushing their soul outward. If you have someone like me nearby, you can read that and find out what kind of person they are. When you are ready to try again, let me know. Maybe we can find out more about you."

Ayeka was not ready to try again. She was afraid of hurting any of the people here, and fooling around with her power here might be disastrous. Thinking back, perhaps this was the very same energy that destroyed all of Nagoya. She shuddered. No, she would avoid trying again for some time, and if she did, it would only be in a way that would garuntee no one else getting hurt. Looking back, she saw Ranma going back into the dojo, looking ready to attack the larger man with the bokken. Facing forward again, Ayeka resolved that there must be a better and simpler way to get her memories back. There was something dark in her memories, and she did not want to unearth it again.


	5. Chapter 5

Ranma stepped away from the trembling Ayeka. Returning to the courtyard, he saw the gathered martial artists. Some seemed very agitated, others simply wary. They all looked at him, waiting for his prognosis of Ayeka. They all had felt it, the rush of power as Ayeka had gotten ready to blow Kuno off the earth. There was enough power in her hands to do that, everyone could tell. What she would have done would also have caused damage to anything within a mile behind Kuno too, but Ranma didn't really care about that. After years of fighting his brother in law, he had a pretty good knowledge that Kuno would dodge. He had learned long and painfully what happened if he did not.

"I assume all of you felt that." Ranma stated. Kuno had walked over to Nabiki and was holding her hand. She was not very pleased with the situation, the power gathered being strong enough for even her barely trained senses to feel. Akane stood strong, confident in him, most likely. "She makes Saffron feel weak, and I think that would not have been one of her higher end attacks. I know that this makes you uncomfortable, but I think we can avoid any further problems. NO more death threats against her or Tenchi, and we will be fine."

Ryoga scoffed. He was a source of many of those same threats, always meant in jest. Tenchi was a good sparring partner for the big guy. "Ranma we have no garuntee of that! We don't know what else is going to set her off. Remember Akane, when her memories started coming back?" Ranma remembered, it was the first time Akane had fought Xian Pu, and the results were disastrous. "She got worse as her memories returned. More triggers and more easily angered." He turned to Akane. "I am sorry for using you as an example."

Akane answered. She had become their resident martial artist for techniques that effected memory and mental damage. "Don't worry about it Ryoga. Ill just need you to train with me in strength training tomorrow to make up for it." Some people winced at this. Akane was very strong, and years of training with Ranma had made her especially devastating. "Ayeka seems to be getting her memory back. That is what she came here to do, and she will continue to have no idea about her abilities until her memories return. We really have to push for her getting her memory back, because until then we are going to have to worry about her." Akane spoke very logically. "She probably will remember how to control herself better as time goes on."

Some of the other martial artists groaned but did not fight Akane on this. She had presented this logically. "At least let us protect our children from her." One spoke up, more than a little worried.

"So, we treat her like an exile? She is here because the same people that exiled us are doing the same to her, and so you recommend we ostrasize her after giving her sanctuary?" She left that hang in the air for a moment. "No, I think not. We will treat her normally and then move forward as if nothing has changed. We will support her in the recovery of her memories." Akane was hiding her own fear well, Ranma could tell. She had one hand clenched, probably worried about their own children but putting up this front for the sake of Ayeka and Tenchi.

After this and a few more comments, the group broke up and headed back to their respective homes. Ranma's home was connected to the main dojo, so they just walked through the doors that lead into their main living areas. Kuno carried in the many bags that belonged to Nabiki, Sakura, and himself, and as soon as they were set down he started smiling.

"So, ingrate brother of mine, when shall we begin?" He said with his signature grin.

Ranma started to reply but Akane responded before he could. "After Dinner! That means we will eat at a sedate pace, Ranma! I don't want anyone else having a near death experience today!" She walked back into the kitchen, muttering something about testerone and stupidity. Ranma laughed and shrugged. They had a month or two, there was time enough to eat first. Both men grinning, they followed their wives peacefully into the dining area. Or at least it was peaceful for now.

"Sir, our agents have found her!" A member of the bridge crew yelled.

Admiral Yuri walked quickly over to the console. It would not do to show his anxiety yet. "Summarize the report, Captain." He did not have time to look through any kinds of yellow tape.

"Sir, they had the princess on trial, for crimes against their supposed nation." She said with little care for the local government. "She was involved in some sort of sordid destruction of a city, and is being considered for execution!" Her eyes scanned over the remnants of the page, looking for any signs of the crown princess' location. "Sir, her location is not being publicly shown, possibly to avoid national concern."

"Along with our rescue attempts." Yuri stated flatly. "I need a scan of every single military installation they have, along with expected population and militia resistance. They will have to keep Princess Ayeka somewhere safe." He did not like this. Everything in his gut screamed that what they were moving towards was wrong. But, they had harmed the princess. They had brought this upon themselves. "Prepare for possible troop deployment, and invasion of this foolish island nation that dares harm the royal family."

"Sir, our men report that they cannot find her in any of the military installations or prison systems. Perhaps she will have been detained in a civilian installation?" His second-in-command said.

Yuri did not like this. They were effectively blind. They had no idea where she was, only that she was in this small island nation. The legal records seemed to show that further investigation was in progress, which meant that Ayeka was at least nearby. It also meant that if after three months they had not had a public execution, that there was hope. However, their agents also could not get into the sealed records of what had already transpired with the trial. It was locked in a government building that had security protocols that only allowed two people into the room, one reportedly as a politically paranoid nutcase. This same person was also known for brandishing bladed weapons at inopportune times, and his agents had not yet found a way into the sealed rooms. More pressing was the fact that their invisibility to the earth nations would not last forever. If they were discovered, they might just kill Princess Ayeka out of fear.

No, they could not wait. They had to act now. If they did not, everyone that was in the Juraian Empire would hold them accountable. This mission was critical. Yuri did not like what he had to do, but for the sake of the Empire, he had to. The death of their princess was not an option. If thousands of these Japanese had to die for them to avoid this, then he would find it an acceptable loss. He would take it upon himself, and following this mission he would drown himself in enough alcohol to forget this. "Are the troops prepared to deploy?" He said as stoicly as his voice would let him.

"They only need deployment orders, Sir. The fleet is ready to drop them in the pretargetted areas." His second in command gave him a slightly worried look. "Shall I give the orders?"

"Disable all communications and sattelight systems. I want all forms of communication globally restricted to our own devices, and I want this island nation sealed up tight. Nothing gets in or out without us noticing, and until we find the princess we must garuntee its inability to stop us. Strike and remove the communications systems as the invasion forces hit the ground. Operation Vindication commence!" He did not like this order, but for the sake of his allegiance he would do whatever it took. As he saw the moniters begin to feed information on fleet movements he saw that none of his ships showed any hesitation. Yes, for the sake of the royal family they would do this.

It was only a few minutes later that the reports started coming in. Ships arrived as stealthily as they could, they did not want to alert the larger mainland nations of their prescense. His technicians watched and began to report progress.

"Local Air intercept forces eliminated, ninety percent of anti air capabilities destroyed. Airports are on fire, local and international. Air traffic is now out of the air, we control Japanese airspace."

The first step was always the least bloody. The next one would bring the most casualties. Oh yes, the most casualties would come now. But, they had air superiority. Any larger grouping of their pitiful defense forces could be obliterated before they could interfere with the search for Ayeka. The search would begin with this city of Tokyo. It was the last known location of Ayeka.

"Sir, someone managed to get a message out! They were using our own shield systems to bounce their signals!" A tech stated.

"Resourceful barbarians they are." Yuri replied, coming to view the screen. "Where did the message go?"

"To the mainland across the ocean, sir."

Yuri cursed. They might have less time now. If that message could be delivered to the other governments, it would become much more drawn out and bloody, and he simply could not fight a war with an entire world with only a few thousand troops. Even with their advanced technology this would make it impossible for them to find Ayeka. "Start searching as fast as the troops can go. We won't have too much time when the other nations decide to get involved. What of their government remains to be captured?"

"We have captured everyone but the Vice Prime Minister, sir. His name is Kuno." The screen started showing a detailed report of the man. He was a paranoid nutcase, but he was paranoid in the right way. Everything this man did was counteractive to their finding Ayeka. Worst of all, he also was the one who apparently knew where she was. Their reports suggested that she was in his custody.

"Find this man. He represents a serious threat and a source of information." Tatewaki Kuno, Yuri thought, you hold all of the answers right now.


	6. Chapter 6

Ranma jumped. A bokken passed through the area his head had just been in as he had to contort himself in midair. Twisting, he landed on one hand and had to jump again as his opponent came bearing down on him. They had been sparring for at least six hours now, their muscles burning from extended use. He jumped again, forced to deflect the wooden blade with his arm. It left a purpling bruise, and there were many other matching bruises on his body.

"Ranma-baka! Kuno-baka! Come and get some dinner before it gets cold!" Akane's voice could carry over no matter how much distance they put in between themselves and the compound. Both men grinned. Now, it would come down to this. They would fight it to the finish. Ranma just grinned. He would finish this off quick, and then he could beat the baka brother in law to dinner. Gathering his remaining ki into his hands, he prepared to do a low level ki blast. He didn't have enough for his higher level blasts he had developed over the last eight years.

"Moko Takabisha!" He yelled, knowing that Kuno had failed to defeat this in the past. Strangely, though, his brother in law just stood in the path of the blast. Of course, he wouldn't know about his ability to change the directions of his blasts while still in motion, since that was developed almost two years ago, but of course he would find out if he tried to dodge.

Kuno started gathering his energy as well. Ranma thought his ki reserves weren't developed enough for this. Still, it would be interesting to see what his brother in law had invented to stop him. "Thunder-ken-ha!" From the tip of his blade, which had been in contact with Kuno's ki reserves, a small glow went through the tip. After he called out his technique, he thrust his blade tip right into the center of the incoming ki blast. Like a bubble, it popped without causing Kuno any harm. Both men were winded, but were smiling.

"Wow, Kuno." Ranma said, huffing. "Now that is a technique!"

"It is part of a new style I will be developing for Sakura when she gets older." The man said, speaking of his daughter. He had a smile on his face, a lightness that showed his appreciation for what he had accomplished. "Other than that, it is mostly defensive at this point. Come, let us eat. We will need quite a bit of food to recover what we have lost from this."

Ranma nodded, chuckling. Kuno had invented a technique to stop his, and the ramifications were already filling his mind. Could he use a variation to stop Ryoga? Could it be used on other forms of ki techniques? His mind rushed, the ideas flowing like water as he absorbed this new technique. It would be a lot more dangerous for him, he realised. Kuno could at least channel his ki into his blade, which he could then use to extend his reach and not be harmed attempting the technique. Ranma had no such extension, and anything that went wrong would make it as if whatever attack it was actually hit.

They walked back, both trying to conceal their obvious soreness from the other. Ranma would have a lot of death glares from Akane, he could already tell. His arm looked more bruised than healthy. Still, these times with Kuno were great for both of them. They both were able to learn and grow from all this. As they arrived in the main house, something started beeping loudly. Kuno scrunched up his face and reached into his shirt, pulling out a small device hanging from his neck.

It seemed to be some form of communications device. "This is an emergency two way transponder. I do hope for my secretary's sake this is a true emergency." He thumbed the control button.

A voice crackled out of the small speaker, emotional and frantic.

"Minister Kuno! Minister Kuno!"

"This is he, what is going on?" Kuno had a serious tone in his voice. This side of his brother in law was new for Ranma. His face, which he put on for political actions, was one of direct seriousness.

"They have taken the Diet, and most of Tokyo! Bullets don't even effect them, and they are quickly taking out our military installations!" The voice was paniced, jumping too quickly to pull any details.

"Who! Who would even dare! Was it China?" Kuno demanded.

"No, they came from these ships, Minister! They are after that Ayeka girl!" In the background, something sounded. The line went quiet, but Kuno still held it to his ear. He seemed to nod, almost analyzing the information like he did in his fight with Ranma. After another minute, he took the device away from his ear and crushed it. Ranma scrunched his face in confusion.

"I don't know of any country that uses teams of three to search a room. Nor do I recognise the sounds of their boots or clothing in terms of known military uniforms. Something is not right, my friend. Japan is in need of me." Kuno said softly, casting aside his false directness and looking more injured, the real self coming out again. He then looked afraid. "I must talk to Nabiki. She will be able to help me make my decision." Kuno limped as best he could to the dinner table, where both sisters were in conversation. Their smiles of course evaporated at the ragged state of their husbands, but Kuno's look of fear was enough to make Nabiki stand up and rush to him.

"Tate, what is wrong? What happened?"

"Japan has been invaded by a strong military force, by sea from what I understand." Kuno stuttered, worry for his country evident. "My secretary died giving me this information over the secure line. I do not know anything beyond the loss of Tokyo and the Diet."

Nabiki turned pale. "Tate! Get to the chopper, and get someone on the line, anyone who can give us the right information!" Kuno ran, moving like the pain of training was no longer effecting him. "I hope it is just terrorist action. We don't want Tokyo to become another Nagoya."

Ranma coughed. "Speaking of that, it seems like these people were after Ayeka. The secretary mentioned that before he was taken. Kuno also said something about not recognising what type of military these people were from. He said they didn't have any kind of uniform he recognised based on the sounds they made moving around."

Nabiki scowled. "Definitely terrorists. Tate has a hobby for studying things he thinks could be a threat in the future. If it is not a recognisable group to Tate, then I don't know who it could be. Though who would be after Ayeka? The only people that knew about her were in the trial, and nobody knows where they went but their lawyer, who happens to be in my pocket." Nabiki saw Tatewaki running back from the chopper. They could hear its rotors turning on, getting faster and faster. They both said nothing as he arrived, heaving in exertion.

"There were no lines of communication working at all, my love," he huffed, "I must go to Japan directly and do what I can from there. I am getting the chopper ready to fly right this moment, so that I may return and dispatch justice for my people!" The exclamation's effect was ruined by the heaving breaths that were required to finish it.

Nabiki glared at him and forced him to sit down. "You wont make it three hours, Tate. You will sit here and eat a full meal, and then you will sleep for a few hours, and then you may go save Japan. Do I make myself clear?" Every word she moved closer to his face, until he was staring at her nose with crossed eyes.

"Yes, beloved." He said weakly. "They were after Ayeka."

"We know. Ranma already told us. We can't tell them that these people are after her and possibly Tenchi. Though whoever they are, they must want her power. We can't let them have that." Nabiki said.

"But anyone who can take over Tokyo and the Diet in less than one day will certainly be able to trace us here!" Tatewaki said.

"Dearest, I make sure that our vacations are always private. The only way they could find us is to contact that refueling airstrip in China. I left no trace for anyone to follow. In fact, I would like to see them try to follow the trail I left behind." She let herself have a small smile. "Tate, I know your paranoia can help us now. Where would this kind of enemy have the most trouble fighting?"

He grinned slightly. "The crowded streets of Tokyo make it very difficult to fire a weapon, especially if they have to search each house. Sword or gun, everything would get bloody in there. If we had to fight outside of that, then the deep forests of Okinawa would be my tactical field of choice. Take away any kind of advantage they might have from technology or superior firepower, like what we did against the Americans. We just need to marshall those willing to fight."

Nabiki's features softened. "But you can't do it alone." She stated. "Ranma, I know how you all feel about what the government did to you, but can you please consider going back with Tatewaki? He needs all of the help he can get."

Ranma glowered. Japan was not very high on his list of places he wanted to go. It had been eight years for a reason. They had been the ones exiled, kicked out of their own country. They didn't even want to give them jail time, they just got rid of them like yesterday's garbage. His memories of his home were mostly of travel, of friends, and of his martial arts. It had all been tainted by exile, and what he loved he had brought with him. He took one of his children in his arms and took a good long look at them, followed by looking at Akane. She was more worried than Nabiki.

"Papa is still in Tokyo! Kasumi and Tofu, too! We can't just leave them during a time like this!"

"Ranma, my brother, if what my secretary said was true, and bullets do not effect them, I would greatly appreciate your assistance. I do not believe that there will be a time in which more glory can be achieved in." He said, falling back into his old ways of speech. "I do not," He stuttered, "I cannot do this alone."

With one last look at Akane, he sighed. "Fine. But we don't tell Ayeka and Tenchi. They don't need to know that something is after them."

Unfortunately, in a martial artist compound, no amount of walls can contain the truth.

Their secret plans lasted for about five minutes, as one of their children had listened in, and then went and told one of Ryoga's kids, who of course blabbed it to Ryoga, who then declared far too loudly to the rest of the compound that he was also embarking on the mission to go save Japan. This lead to an irate group of martial artists gathering in front of Ranma's house, and he promptly demonstrated that he still could run away faster than all of the rest of them.

The most damage was done to Ayeka and Tenchi. Both of them were found sleeping onboard the helicopter, not letting it take off without them. Ranma groaned, knowing that this was about to get ugly. Kuno, Ryoga, and Ranma came up to the small chopper, seeing that this would immediately be a problem. There were only four seats, and so someone would have to stay behind.

"They are searching for me! It is my fault!" Ayeka said as they walked up to the vehicle. "If I go maybe we can just fix all of this."

"Don't be ridiculous Ayeka. You came here to figure out who you really are, not to just throw away your life on something we don't know for sure about yet!" Ranma said. "You and Tenchi can stay here while we go and find out what is going on." He didn't mention that this might be a while indeed before they would see them again. He also didn't mention that he would be going back for different reasons.

"My grandpa could be dead! My dad could be dead! I have to make sure they are alright!" Tenchi said. "And Ayeka and I both feel that this is important, something we can do to prove we are still part of Japan!"

"Get used to it, kid. You are Exiled now. You think they will just let you back because of this?" Ryoga asked.

Kuno put on his mask of seriousness at this. "By now the rest of the governing structure has been either dealt with or driven out. If I can I will pardon you, and grant you the citizenship you all deserve. Brother, Ryoga, I have searched long and hard during my political career to find a way to gain a pardon for you. This has placed me close, so very close, to freeing you of your burdens. As the Vice Prime Minister of Japan I will hold myself to this promise." He motioned to the helicopter. "I think we ca all fit, as long as we get some things worked out." He held up a canteen of cold water.

So, a prime minister, a priest, a girl with no memory, and a small short redheaded woman holding a pig embarked on the quest to go save their country.


	7. Chapter 7

"Admiral Yuri," Captain Jena said, "We have a large number of civilian groups trying to escape the country. They are heavily armed and have already pinned down or stopped a few of our combat teams. Our intelligence labels them as Yakuza, an organized crime group." She checked over her scans once more for surety. "They are taking a good number of helicopters and escaping the country. We also have a couple of incoming contacts, another small helicopter and two large freighters, all coming from the nearby larger country." She looked over her screens, knowing just as well as Yuri did the lack of troops to stop such incursions or escape attempts. Still, he could not bring in the heavy frigates from the fleet, those would surely set off the neighboring nation of china to the, and that would lead to more problems.

Yuri stopped pacing and considered. Their limited deployable air power could not be focused in that many places at once. He would have to make sacrifices somewhere. "Kill these Yakuza. Use the air groups, as they may try to scatter." He scowled. "Their files remind me of those pirates we spent so long digging out of their hiding places. Ignore the incoming air unit, just send a patrol to go and clean up when they land. Hammer the freighters from orbit if they leave visual sight range of their homeland. We cannot risk letting more of these barbaric nations know of our intentions here." Plus, it would be that much harder to find Ayeka and save her if more humans got involved.

His orders went out, and then he scowled again when he saw the patrol listings. Some of his worst men were all he had to send on this patrol. He couldn't trust them with much of anything, or rather anyone. Oh well, one small chopper wouldn't have anything important. Outside of the few patrols he had posted and the few men who were resting from their shifts down on the planet, he had nothing to deploy. The troop units all were teleportation prepared, but any kind of gap created at one place would require another gap to fill. He could redeploy troops at will, but it was taxing upon his forces. They were already at their limit, and still there was no sign of Ayeka.

The Vice Prime Minister had the most interesting office. It was trapped, with everything from fine small explosives to fruit that would be flung at the person who wrongfully entered. He still had one soldier in trauma care for a watermelon to the face. Still, for all the effort to get into the office he had received little in the way of intelligence. Everything in the office was written in the form of Haiku, which was aggravating to decipher, to say the least. The paranoid sword wielding nutcase (his wall had been covered in them) wrote everything in a code, somehow tied to archaic little known persons in earth's history. His teams were still tied up in the files that had been lying on top of the desk.

Groaning, he moved on. "Give me a status."

Jenna brought up another screen. "The Terran defensive forces are no longer able to arm themselves. We have taken out or possessed every single one of their armories, and only the island of Okinawa and its sizable military installations still thwart complete takeover. The civilian population is somewhat compliant, more than we had expected, but they have no information on Ayeka." She typed a few commands into her console. "Casualties have been rising as we have more widely distributed our troops."

That was to be expected, a lot more cuts and wounds. "How many injured?" these barbarians probably took a few dozen down in their efforts.

"Less than one hundred, sir." Jenna reported. That was great! Those were low casualty numbers compared to some of his previous deployments.

"Amazing. How many casualties total?" He needed to know how many of his people were not coming home from this. Hopefully it would be in the single digits, but for sure in the double.

"Eight hundred and Seventy one, sir." Yuri looked at her console in horror. Almost eight hundred dead. He felt cold, just thinking of how many people he had lost. He shuddered, moving back to his chair.

"How! How is this possible? We took out their only weapons that could pierce our armor!" The fifty caliber weapons were the only reliable particle weapon that could break their Juraian armor. What, then, could have done this?

"Sir, much of the older population own swords of high caliber, and the civilians are likewise armed. The better made weapons can pierce right through our neck braces. Most of our casualties are wounded in this manner, the urban setting providing them the cover they need to get close to our men." Jenna said.

"How are they trained in this?" Yuri said, mind trying to keep up.

"Most train as children, in a sport called kendo. Much of the civilian population knows of it or is skilled in it enough to be a threat."

"Wonderful. What else is notable about this?"

"Sir, the remaining government official, Tatewaki Kuno, is the resident champion of kendo, and has trained some of his people in the art." Jenna said, eyes narrowing through her glasses. "He might be behind this tactic, sir."

"I want his head on a pole!" Yuri shouted. "That man has the direct knowledge of Ayeka's location and stands as the largest threat to our search. I want him found and stopped, preferably in a way that prevents him from harming any more of our men." He sat in his chair more deeply, trying to settle in. "Forward me the list of the dead. I want to let our people know they died for the right cause. We will find Ayeka, even if I have to search out the entire country myself."


End file.
